So you made the day trip to a nearby city, town or village last time around. This weekend it is time to venture out further. The travel involved this time around will be full of surprises, since it will involve some¬†good company or maybe mother nature for company.

If you feel like travelling this weekend, this is what you need to do:

Find a place you want to visit 100+ miles from your place. Now, that you have decided on the place, let me introduce you to one of the beauties of budget travel *Drum-Roll* – Couchsurfing India.

What is Couchsurfing India?

Couchsurfing¬†is a website where other travellers¬†list their houses to host fellow travellers. The hosts charge no fee, so your stay is completely FREE. But don’t always expect luxury. The host can provide you with a couch, a yoga mat, a bed or anything else to sleep on. Retrospectively, you can host people in your own home. If you can’t host, still you can offer to hang out with the traveller in your town. To meet fellow travellers always brightens up your mood. Couchsurfing India is a great platform to meet people from all over the globe.

How Couchsurfing works?

Create a free account on Couchsurfing. Fill in all the relevant information. Explain yourself and your passions as best as you can. Hosts will be more willing to meet and host you if they find your profile to be interesting. Put a good profile photo, hopefully with some interesting travel backdrop ūüėČ

Find hosts in the place you are visiting

Scan the host’s Couchsurfing India profile: Couchsurfing does a good job by asking the right questions. You get a hang of the person’s personality and places he visited. I always send requests to people who have been to a variety of places since I get to travel to these places through their memories and stories

Contact¬†the host(s)¬†and see if¬†they¬†are free this weekend to hang out with you. You contact them by sending a personal message. In your message, mention why you are interested in meeting them. Mention a couple of things about them that you like. This will increase the chances of them getting back to you.

Once your request is accepted – prepare the right questions to ask them¬ about the place, culture, their travel experiences etc.¬†This will help you get the most out of your conversations with them

Alternate options for this weekend

If for some reason you can’t travel this weekend, try hosting someone in your own hometown. If you can’t host then you can offer to hang out with them. I am sure it will brighten up your weekend to meet a fellow travelling soul.